Opinions please starting to leave Duke out ??

[BabyDuke]

thanks everyone.. really feel bad I have kept him in his play yard this long we are on day 3 of letting him stay alone about 4 hours at a time an he has done absolutely fine!! I think he is out of the chewing stage ( I agree to put things away etc )..today I came home he was all curled up on the sofa and so happy to see mommy! He also seems more relaxed?? in any case.. all good so far!! so happy I have this site

 

[izstigspunks]

thanks everyone.. really feel bad I have kept him in his play yard this long we are on day 3 of letting him stay alone about 4 hours at a time an he has done absolutely fine!! I think he is out of the chewing stage ( I agree to put things away etc )..today I came home he was all curled up on the sofa and so happy to see mommy! He also seems more relaxed?? in any case.. all good so far!! so happy I have this site

Glad to hear he's doing so well. He sounds like he really loves having more freedom.

 

[anatess]

Yeah, it truly is up to the dog.

Gizmo, the bichon frise, needs to be crated when nobody is at home. He has bad separation anxiety issues and would go psychotic. I work from home so he is only left alone when I go on errands. When I have to be gone all day, we leave him with family or at a sitter. We left him in the screened-in patio once when he was about 2 years old and he chewed off the patio screen to go out looking for me. The neighbor said he ran around the neighborhood sniffing the ground like he was trying to catch my scent and whining the entire time. He is fine in the crate by himself. He just plays with his toys or sleeps while I'm gone.

Bullie, though, can be left alone uncrated but we found out that when we're gone, he goes to his crate (his crate is right next to Gizmo's) and sleeps there the entire time next to his buddy.

So, yeah, don't feel bad if the dogs are crated when you're gone. It's not like a prison or anything like that. Their natural instinct is to burrow in a small den for security and comfort. But, if your dogs are okay uncrated, you can give him the option to roam leaving the crate open for him to go to if he wants.

 

[pdac1975]

It's weird, we thought about leaving wally out but if I leave the house and he's not in his crate, he get's very upset. If I lure him into the crate before we leave, he is perfectly happy. I think it's just what they are used to. If he's not in his crate he expects to be with us. If he is in his crate, he expects to happily snooze all day. I'm also neurotic and would be afraid of him hurting himself if we left him out, even though he has never been destructive.

 

[Alice Kable]

Mack and Ruggles usually have free run of the house. We did have to Ruggles-proof the house by removing all area rugs, accent pillows on the couch, etc. If we're going to be gone several hours they go into the laundry room where their crates are. They have a pet door that leads out to a fenced dog area. They have an ideal set-up!

 

[JAKEISGREAT]

.. Knew Duke would do great! He's perfect you know!! I still am a bit nervous opening the front door..sometimes therevarevsigns..a certain young bulldog has been WILD! Last night he chewed a hole in a toss pillow from the sofa. Later..much later..at 2:30 am..he started barfing..the stuffing from the pillow! Swallowed a couple handfuls..oh yeah and a few pieces of tree bark were mixed in for good measure! !!

 

[melanieian]

I would give anything to be able to leave Brodie out, but I am just toooo scared! He eats things he should not eat, like socks and paper and toilet paper and pillow stuffing . Now we do not leave anything laying around for him to get and if I left him out of course I would go through and make sure the house was puppy proof, but I'm afraid he will start eating my couch because I have caught him trying to chew on the edge before. I feel terrible having to put him in his kennel every single time we leave. Like Monday put him in there in the morning before going to work at 6:30am, then let him potty on lunch break but only potty then had to leave, so back in the kennel he went. I got off work at 5pm was about 5:30 by the time I got home, let him out feed him took him potty then back in the kennel he went because I had to take the kiddo's to a Safari for trick or treat. We didn't get home until 8:30. I wanted to cry and I felt like a TERRIBLE Bully momma having him locked up ALL day and night. He does not sleep in his kennel at night, he sleeps with me, on my head, LOL. I just want him to stop eating everything in sight and I would be able to leave him out of his kennel when we leave for short periods of time. Any advice?

 

[anatess]

I would give anything to be able to leave Brodie out, but I am just toooo scared! He eats things he should not eat, like socks and paper and toilet paper and pillow stuffing . Now we do not leave anything laying around for him to get and if I left him out of course I would go through and make sure the house was puppy proof, but I'm afraid he will start eating my couch because I have caught him trying to chew on the edge before. I feel terrible having to put him in his kennel every single time we leave. Like Monday put him in there in the morning before going to work at 6:30am, then let him potty on lunch break but only potty then had to leave, so back in the kennel he went. I got off work at 5pm was about 5:30 by the time I got home, let him out feed him took him potty then back in the kennel he went because I had to take the kiddo's to a Safari for trick or treat. We didn't get home until 8:30. I wanted to cry and I felt like a TERRIBLE Bully momma having him locked up ALL day and night. He does not sleep in his kennel at night, he sleeps with me, on my head, LOL. I just want him to stop eating everything in sight and I would be able to leave him out of his kennel when we leave for short periods of time. Any advice?

Oh yeah. That's a lot of crating...

My suggestion is to do coralling - like extending his crate to a play yard, or leaving him out in a safe room with the doors closed, or fencing off a section of the house for him using strong baby gates and the like.